The NCAA beach volleyball championship tournament kicks off Wednesday in Gulf Shores with the title match set for Sunday, May 7, at 11 a.m. on ESPN. Eight duals will be hosted Friday before the quarterfinals and semifinals are played Saturday on ESPN2.

Five of the championship teams — including four of the top six teams — that will battle it out on Gulf Place Beach were competing on the same courts not long ago at the fifth annual March to May Tournament hosted by the UAB Blazers.

The UCLA Bruins earned the top overall seed with a 37-3 record and a Pac-12 championship in what will be their seventh tournament appearance where they've registered a 20-9 record.

UCLA’s two national titles (2018 and 2019) came consecutively after two straight championships from USC. Heading into the 2023 tournament, the Women of Troy (28-5 and seeded No. 3) have won the last two championships in a row.

This will be the first year played under the new format approved by the Division I Oversight Committee that produced a 17-team, single-elimination bracket. Last year saw single-elimination duals played on the first day of competition before the remaining eight teams battled in the traditional double-elimination format over the final three days of the tournament to find a winner.

Gulf Shores has played host to the beach volleyball national championship each year since the NCAA sanctioned the sport in 2016. Gulf Place Beach will also host the tournament again next year before it goes out to Huntington Beach, California for the 2025 and 2026 championships.

It all gets started Wednesday when UT Martin and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi square off in the first-round match at 4 p.m. Check out the full schedule below and follow @GCMSportsAL for updates throughout the tournament.

Information subject to change

Tuesday, May 2
4:00-5:30 p.m.: UT Martin & A&M-Corpus Christi Practice

Wednesday, May 3
3:00 p.m.: Gates open to the public
4:00 p.m.: Opening Round – A&M-Corpus Christi vs UT Martin

Thursday, May 4
7:30-9:00 a.m.: UCLA & Winner of A&M-Corpus Christi/UT Martin Practice

8:45-10:15 a.m.: California & Long Beach St. Practice
10:00-11:30 a.m.: Florida St. & FIU Practice
11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.: LSU & Fla. Atlantic Practice
12:30-2:00 p.m.: TCU & Stetson Practice
1:45-3:15 p.m.: Grand Canyon & Stanford Practice
3:00-4:30 p.m.: Southern California & Georgia St. Practice
4:15-5:45 p.m.: LMU (CA) & Hawaii Practice

Friday, May 5
8:00 a.m.: Gates open to the public
9:00 a.m.: Dual 1 – Winner of A&M-Corpus Christi/UT Martin vs UCLA

10:00 a.m.: Dual 2 – Long Beach St. vs California
11:00 a.m.: Dual 3 – FIU vs Florida St.
Noon: Dual 4 – Fla. Atlantic vs LSU
1:00 p.m.: Dual 5 – Stetson vs TCU
2:00 p.m.: Dual 6 – Stanford vs Grand Canyon
3:00 p.m.: Dual 7 – Georgia St. vs Southern California
4:00 p.m.: Dual 8 – Hawaii vs LMU (CA)

Saturday, May 6
8:00 a.m.: Gates open to the public
9:00 a.m.: Quarterfinal – TBD vs TBD

10:00 a.m.: Quarterfinal – TBD vs TBD
11:00 a.m.: Quarterfinal – TBD vs TBD
Noon: Quarterfinal – TBD vs TBD
1:00 p.m.: Semifinal – TBD vs TBD
2:30 p.m.: Semifinal – TBD vs TBD

Sunday, May 7
10:00 a.m.: Gates open to the public
11:00 a.m.: National Championship